Jim Casey believed that service has no magic shortcuts, only steady work done the right way, over time. This episode explores how Casey built UPS by putting service first, resisting easy wins, and proving that the hard, with an honest path is often the fastest one in the end.
Jim Casey built one of the largest companies in the world by holding onto a belief so simple it’s easy to overlook: service has no magic shortcuts.
In this episode, we look at Jim Casey, the quiet, founder of United Parcel Service, and the lifelong philosophy that guided him from the streets of Seattle to the helm of a global enterprise. Casey started working as a messenger boy at a young age, driven less by ambition than by responsibility. From the very beginning, he learned something that never left him—anyone can move a package, but not everyone can be trusted to serve.
Casey understood early that service isn’t glamorous. It’s repetitive. It’s costly. It requires discipline, honesty, and patience—especially on bad days. While competitors chased speed, scale, or clever tactics, Casey obsessed over something quieter: keeping promises, controlling costs, and empowering people to do their work well. He believed that real service compounds slowly, and that trying to rush it usually breaks the very thing you’re trying to build.
Throughout his life, Casey repeated the same message to managers and employees alike. Service comes first. Not when it’s easy. Not when it’s profitable. But especially when it’s hard. He warned against shortcuts, tricks, and quick wins, insisting that the long road—done right—was actually the fastest way forward. In his view, putting reward ahead of service was like putting the trailer before the tractor. It might move for a moment, but it won’t get you where you want to go.
This episode draws from Casey’s talks, his early experiences, and the culture he instilled at UPS over decades. It’s a reminder that the most enduring businesses aren’t built on hacks or slogans, but on habits—small things done well, day after day, year after year.
If you’re building a business, leading a team, or simply trying to do meaningful work, Jim Casey’s life offers a timeless lesson: service isn’t magic—but it works. And when you commit to it fully, even the hard way becomes the right way.
Past Episodes Mentioned
#1 Henry Ford My Life and Work (What I Learned)
#9 Sam Zemurray - The Banana Man (What I Learned)
Kent Taylor and his Texas Roadhouse Dream
Sam Walton: Simple Ideas & Deep Business Impacts
#16 How Jim Casey Turned Service Into UPS's Superpower
E18 Harry Snyder: In-N-Out and the Power of “Keep It Real Simple”
Deeply Driven Books (Amazon Affiliate) - 100% of commissions will be donated to help support Children’s Literacy!
The man who is dedicated to service sees life's problems from a different viewpoint. He becomes inspired at times and nothing seems as difficult as it otherwisewouldappear.Successfulwaysofdealingwithtroublesomesituations come to mind naturally when the aim is directed towards service. Hard work is no longer drudgery, but often comes as a pleasure in short.
One'swholebeingisliftedupwhenhisprimeobjectiveisservice.Inadditionto the inward satisfaction derived from service rendered to others, the rewards and money that we expect to receive for our efforts are almost certain to be greater than if money itself were the first in only consideration.
Long,longago.Aphilosopherwentrightintotheheartofthis.Hesaid, “little service, [00:01:00] little reward”. How regrettable it is that more men don't understand the meaningof those simplewords. Little service,little reward. To put reward ahead of service is like putting the trailer before the tractor.
Yet, that is what some men are doing. They are going about their jobs backwards,becausetheydonotunderstandthemotivationalpowerofserviceto others. Imagine what the overall benefits to our business could be if all our people were actuated by the spirit of service. For service is the sum of many things done well.
That'sJimCaseyandit's 1960;atthistime,heis72yearsoldandhe'sspeaking tohisplantmanagersattheiryearly [00:02:00]conference,andhisfocusisstill the same as when he started UPS, the spirit of service. He knew it was easy to miss if you rushed.
Thus, he never stops talking about it. If we flash back to when Jim Casey foundedUPSin1907,hewasonly19yearsold,buthealreadyhadeightyears of experience delivering messages and packages along with two prior businesses. One thing that he learned early is that anyone, anyone can deliver messages and packages.
It doesn't take any special skill to do that. The value that his customers love service, for which Jim never shuts up about. And if we take that focus on serviceandweletitbuildoverdecades theresultisthelargestparcelcompany
intheworldtoday.Ifwejustthinkabout [00:03:00]thatforamoment,service and time, mix that with what you love.
Who is going to stop you? No one. On episode 16, you and I spoke about Jim Casey in detail, how he founded and how he grew UPS, the book for that episode in one that I hope you can pick up. It was called Big Brown by Greg Niemann.Fortheepisodetoday,IfoundthiscollectionoftalksthatJimCasey gave each year at their UPS Plant Manager meetings.
What Idoiswhen Ireadbooks,Inormallyliketo hop on eBay just to seeifI couldfindanythinginterestingaboutthefounderortheentrepreneur.Iliketo seesomeoftheolderitemsthat areoutthere,likestockcertificates signedby Jay Gould, or letters from Rockefeller, things like that.
For Jim Casey, I came across this collection of [00:04:00] talks that spanned overa20-yearperiodoftime,ofthe30biographiesorsothatI'vereadforthe podcast. Jim Casey's story, at least for me, is easily in my top five favorites.
And so, I paid $50 for the talks, they're called Determine Men Working Together.AndIthoughtthatIwouldshareafewthingswithyoutodayfrom those talks.
Infact,asIwasreadingthecollectionoftalks,Ikeptthinkingabouttheseasthe original podcast. Jim, he's speaking to a large group of managers in executives, so I guess that's like the pod. He's going into their business history and he's referencing other great founders like Henry Ford, and he's kind of tying everything together to give solid examples.
And as I was reading the talks, there are three things that Casey never stops talking about. The first is the focus on service. Then he goes into cost control. Andthen[00:05:00]witheverysingletalk,he'salwaysdivingintoempowering employees and how to be successful in the company.
This decadeslong story,it startsout whenJimisonly 11 years old.Atthetime, his father was sick with, minor's lung disease, and so he couldn't go out and work or maintain any sort of steady employment. So, Jim, he's the oldest child. He feels really compelled to help support the family. So, he goes out to find workinSeattle,andtheonlyplacethatwouldhirethisskinnylittleboywasthe packagedeliveryteamatBonMarché,whichwasapopulardepartmentstorein Seattle. Quickly, this blue-gray-eyed kid, he starts jumping from job to job.
He was trying to earn more money for his family, so he was going anywhere thatwouldpayhimahigherrate.Hewasreallyunderalotofpressuretohelp
out,butalongtheway,healsolearnsandhediscoversthatservice,giveshiman unfair [00:06:00] advantage against others and he vows to always put service first in his heart.
Onequotethat Ilove,and Iuseit on theJimCasey episode,it comes fromJohn Maxwell. Anyone can serve a customer on a good day. Excellence is serving themwellonabadday.Thatreallyisasimplesaying,yetit'sincrediblyhardto do.
When Ireadthe saying,it fits Jim Casey so perfectly andhowseriouslyhe took service.AyoungJim,hefindshimselfworking thenight shift.He's trying to go to school during the day and during those nighttime hours, he's tasked with delivering more than just messages. Listen to what this kid is doing. He's going downtothewaterfronttobuyopiumand deliverittodrugaddicts.He'srunning cocainetowhathecalledthesnowbirds.He'srushingpalesofbeeracrosstown. He's babysitting in the hotel rooms; he's pumping the church organ.
[00:07:00]
He's collecting bail for guys that were in jail. He's working as a detective, shadowingpeople,lookingforcheatingspouses,andjustthinkaboutthat.He's 15
Andhe is learningthat service means servicing everyone.Youdon't get to pick; youservewhoever'sdirectlyinfrontofyou.ThisiswhereUPScomesfrom,the kid and the streets. This is the origin story. I keep coming back to this moment as I think about Jim Casey.
Excellenceisservingcustomerswellonabadday.That'swhatJimCaseydid. These lessons they feed into the company that he found in 1907 called American Messenger Company. This company becomes UPS.
At the start. The basics. The company offered best service and lowest rates aroundtheclock,includingevenings,Sundays, [00:08:00]andholidays.Ontop of that, they took a different approach than others. If a call came in and the messengerwasnotimmediatelyavailable,JimandClaudeneveransweredright away, as did many of their competitors.
Instead,theywouldhonestlyanswerthatitmightbeafewminutes,perhaps even a half an hour. Customers came to know that American Messenger company messengers always met their time commitment
Their first company policy. Never promise more than you can deliver and alwaysdeliverwhatyoupromise.Thatruleneverleavesthem,andthat'show with a promise UPS pushes upstream in the early days to start delivering packages for department stores.
38 years later in 1948, Jim reflects upon this, our efforts to succeed can be effective, only if we [00:09:00] have a clear idea of what we want to accomplish. What arewe striving for?Areweworking for money alone? Ifso, there'snosurewaytonotgetitarereal.Primaryobjectiveistoserve,torender perfect service to our stores and their customers.
If we keep that objective constantly in mind, our reward and money can be beyondourfondestdreams.Inthedayswhentheexistenceofcompetitionwas more readily seen than it is today, you may be sure that we did work for the interest of the stores and their customers. We gave them the best we were capable of.
Weknowwhatthepenaltywouldbeifwefailed.
Just a quick note here. When UPS was founded, there were hundreds and hundreds of delivery companies. [00:10:00] The price of entry into that business, it was very low. As UPS grew, they would buy up a lot of these smallercompanies,orsimplythosecompaniesjustwent outtaofbusiness.And I wanna stay with Jim's line of thinking here just for a moment.
For example, we didn't look at losses and damages of merchandise as just so muchexpenseforacompany.Welookedatthemassomethingthatwouldruin our reputation in the minds of shopkeepers.
Wedidn'tlookatdelayeddeliveriesandothercomplaintsasamassofstatistics tobe filed away and forgotten. We looked at them almost withterror. Wewere regarded every complaintor cause from complaint as a flaw in our service,and we trained our people to prevent them.
Weclearlysawthatindoingourworkforthestoresaswellasitshouldbe done, we would at the same time [00:11:00] advance our own interest.
And I tell you now that this large group of executives gathered from widely scatteredsectionsofthecountrywouldnothavemethereinNewYork tonight
for there would benoUnited Parcel Service.If smaller earlier groups ofpeople had not maintained ideals of service and appearance higher than those prevailinginourcompanytoday, thecurrentdayexecutivesarestandingonthe shoulders of giants.
This is the same thing that we saw with Arthur Guinness on episode 21. His father had learned to read at a time when it was uncommon to do so. This movesthefamilyfromfarmingtotradesmen.Arthur,hefollowshisfather.He becomes highly literate, and he enters into his father's trade, standing on his shoulders.
Helearnsbusiness.Hefoundsandgrowshisbreweryoverthenext50years, and Arthur's shoulders [00:12:00] were even stronger and broader than his father's.
Thus,hisdrystouthasbeeninserviceformorethan265years.
Now,onethingthatJimsaysisthatthroughserviceopportunityishereandthey have no limits, except one.
We are limited in only one respect. The prices charge for our services. The maximumpricesthatcustomerswillpayuswillbefixed,notbyus,butbyour competitors. We all know that in the field where our greatest chance for development lies, our sole competitor is Parcel Post. Assuming as we should, that we eventually will have operative rights covering all parts of the country and that nothing else will impede us.
TheratesofParcelPostandourabilitytooperatewithinthose [00:13:00]rates will determine whether
ourbusinessistobeamiserablefailureorabrilliantsuccess.
Here'sthethingwiththis.UPS,theymadeachoicematchorbeatthepostoffice rates. This keeps them in a pressure cooker and it forces them to control their cost. On top of that, at the end of the 1950s, they were only in a little over a dozen or so metropolitan areas, and it wouldn't be until 1975 that UPS would finally cover the entire United States.
68 years after Casey's original vision. Imagine that, chasing a vision for 68 years.That'swhyIreallylovestudyingJimCasey.Oneofthedeepeststrivesin pure focus of any founder. Now in 1950, the parcel service, they have a
monopolyontheUnitedStates [00:14:00]geographycoveringallareas.So,for UPS service and controlling costs was critical.
Caseyhammersthishomeinhis1953talk.It'salittlelong,butit'ssodamn good.
I would like to speak to you about a few general principles that should be understoodbyeveryoneofus.Ourcompanyistryingtodoafewsimplethings. We are trying to provide delivery service at prices low enough to make stores willing to employ us. We are trying to provide more jobs, favorable working conditions, at the highest rates of pay for people in our company.
We are trying to pay our stockholders reasonable compensation for the use of theirsavingsinvestedinplants,equipment,motorcars,andotherfacilitiesused in our operations. We are trying to ensure the permanent existence and steady growth of our company [00:15:00] so that it can provide regular work, security and opportunities for all of us.
Their first objective is obviously to keep prices low for their stores. Many were starting to use UPS only to deliver those heavy objects. The automobile, it's becomecommonplace,andalotofshoppers,theywouldsimplyjusthandcarry those smaller items home.
Thenextobjectivecallsforpayinghigherwagesandgoodworkingconditions. When you first look at it, it feels like these objectives might cause higher rates to the stores, but through what Casey calls better management, greater ingenuity, and continued search for improved methods, the cost, they can stay low.
Now,ifwelookatthebiggerpicture,laboris75%oftheircost.Thatisalot.
This talk in 1953, it goes deep into the thinking of the concept of [00:16:00] time and how that relates to cost and how it helps bring in more business by making costs lower, this results in more sales. The difficult predicament in whichwefindourselvescallsforsavingsinoneplacewherereallybigsavings can be made.
We must find ways to save some of the time that we now consume in the handling of a delivery. It may astonish some of you to hear that the total time spentoneachpackagedeliveredintheNewYorkareaisapproximatelyseven and a half minutes. The average rate of pay of our people is three and a half
centsaminute,andthatdoesnotincludebenefitssuchashospitalization,social security, compensation insurance, et cetera.
Seven and a half minutes at three and a half cents a minute is over 26 cents a package for wages and salaries alone. [00:17:00] If somehow, we could save just half a minute of time on each package, the total savings and dollars on millions of packages would be enormous. With that savings, we could pay higherwagesthanwepaytoday,orcouldquotelowerratesforourservices,or we could do both.
Atlowerrates,storeswouldgiveusmorebusiness,andourpeoplewouldhave more and better jobs. Time spent unnecessarily on any single operation hurts every one of us and defeats the very purpose to which we exist.
Toomuchtimespentinanyoneofouroperationscosts moneythatcouldbe usedtopay higherwages.Too much timespent in anyoneofouroperations weakens the position of our entire company.
Whathopehavewe of winning or fight againsthigh delivery costsif we cannot [00:18:00] find ways to reduce the amount of time consumed in the handling of a delivery from the store to the customer? In short, if you want to find the moneywithwhichtopayhigherwages,ifyouwanttopreventcostsfromrising higher.
Ifyouwanttoday'sconferencetobeproductiveinthewayscontemplatedby your plans and discussions. Look for the many ways and places where it is possible to save time.
From the day that Jim Casey founded UPS, he was the plant. He created the plant,hewas alwaysintheplant,andheknew theplant fromAtoZ.When you know your business fromA to Z,there'sno problem that you can'tsolve.As we learnfromSamZemurrayonepisodenine.Aswe'llseeinthenexttalk,itreally feels like Jim Casey is a student of Henry Ford. Each function in the plant is measured to the [00:19:00] smallest detail and it's improved upon nonstop.
These yields cost savings, and once you see cost savings, it's hard to unsee them.Jimusesthemtoreducepricestohisstores,anditwinsmorebusiness. Let's jump into the talk from 1958.
To avoid harmful competition from any source, we must be not only vigilant, butwemustcontinuallystudyandplanhowtobeofthegreatestserviceatthe lowest rates. Over wider and wider areas. Now, here incidentally, is a note of
warning.Onethingthatwearedoing,wethinkoutofnecessity,istouseour ability to raise prices as a means of solving our problems.
We have learned from experience that every timewe raise our price,some of ourvolumedisappears.[00:20:00]Perhapsourcostwouldbelowerifitwere more difficult to increase our prices.
Thisnextparagraphcomingup,thisistheonethatmademestopandthink about the original podcast that I had mentioned earlier.
The founder of what was the greatest industrial success in history until it violated the very principles that made it great. Said that price determines cost not the other way around, as most people think. Henry Ford priced his product lowtobringitwithinreachofmorebuyers,andhefoundawaytoproduceitat cost within the price he had set.
NoticewhatJimCaseydoeshere.He'spraisingFord,buthe'sgivingawarning saying that it violated the very principles that made it great.
Basically,he'ssaying,thisworksonlyifyoudon't [00:21:00]stop.Backon episode one we spoke about Ford and he said the following about cost.
Nooneknowswhatacostoughtto be.
Oneofthewaysofdiscoveringwhatacostoughttobeistonameapricesolow as to force everybody in the place to the highest point of efficiency. The low price makes everybody dig for profits. We make more discoveries concerning manufacturing and selling under this forced method than by any other methodof a leisurely investigation.
If we pivot from forward back to Casey here, he tells us, if we do likewise voluntarily,orthroughnecessity,wemightfindwaystoreduceourcostsbelow what theyotherwisewouldbe. How closeare we at thetop rates thetrafficwill bear?Okay,forasecondIhadtostophereand [00:22:00]Ihadtolookthatup.
Topratesthattrafficwillbear.Thatwasnewformeandit'sreallyeasyjustto read that line and pass it over, and I wanted to understand it a little bit more.
What he's doing here is he's asking his managers, are we at the maximum rate thatacustomerorstorewouldpaytoshipapackagewithus?Becauseifweare, we need to be aware of the following.
Rememberthatanybusinessthatchargesallthetrafficwillbearwilleventually find itself on the skids. Now, this is a warning shot and you can feel it when you're reading it. If you ever start charging, all the traffic will bear or the maximum rate that someone would pay, you're finished.
Someonehungrierisgonnaundercutyou.Casey,hesawthisclearlyhenryFord did too until the company later forgot it.
[00:23:00] So if we ever let our operations become loose and do not worryaboutcostsbecausewethinkthetrafficwillbearhigherrates,wecanlookforat least two dangers that might ruin us. First, we can expect that other men who know how to operate at lower cost will take away our business.
Second, we must always face the possibility that Parcel Posts will be subsidized to a greater extent than in the past and won't charge rates as high as our cost. Ifit happens and we are operating on the basis of all the traffic will bear what will happentous.Don'tforgetwhatHenryFordhadinmindwhenhewouldsellyou a good automobile for $400 and said, price makes the cost.
Cost does not make the price. Competitors never caught up to Ford while he followed[00:24:00]thatprinciple.Letusthinkaboutthatinthemanagementof our business. When I read this, it's clear that Casey is a student of Ford. He believed in his early working strategies.
Therefore, he used these to teach to the benefits of UPS, but he was also wise enoughtoseewhytheyfelldownandtowarnhismenaboutthis.Thisbringsus into the third area of Jim Casey's speeches. The people working for UPS of the 20 speeches in the book, every single one of them spends some amount of time talking about the people involved in the business, which makes perfect sense because 75% of their costs, after all, are going to pay wages for time.
Casey,hesoundsjustlikeFordonwageshere.Thisisfrom1960.Highwage rates [00:25:00] do not always result in excessively high cost.
A point to understand is that interested people, well paid and working effectively because they want to work effectively can produce at lower costs thanworkerswhowerepoorlypaidandhavelittleinterestintheirjobs.Thisis the exact same thinking that you and I saw with Ford on episode one.
Thepaymentofhigherwagesfortunatelycontributestothelowcostbecausethe men become steadily more efficient on account of being relieved of outside worries. The payment of $5 a day for an eight hour a day was one of the finest
cost-cuttingmovesweevermade.Andthe$6adaywageischeaperthanfive, six is cheaper than five.
That is amazing. If we stay here just for a second. [00:26:00] Joe Coulombe, who was the founder of Trader Joe's, he says, good people pay by their extra productivity. If wejump overto Harry Snyder, founder of Inn Out Burger, he paidwayabovemarketrates.Nooneeverquit.Hispeoplegotsogoodhehad to go out and build new stores just to give them room to grow as employees.
Expansionwasdrivenbytalent,notjustbydemand.Now,ifwestepbackto Jim Casey's shoes here, he wants people who are dedicated to the purpose.
Those that know the why behind the work. He doesn't want clock punchers. Clockpuncherscansimplydropout.Heexplainsthissowellinhis1961talk.
We must emphasize the purpose itself rather than the mechanics of it. We cannot learn. We cannot teach unless the why is put ahead of the how. We cannot hope [00:27:00] to be truly effective in any part of our work unless we andthepeoplewedirectunderstandandmoreimportantlybelieveinthereason for it.
Our beliefs must be so strong that they are contagious. People will not accept ourteachingsandinstructionsunlessbackedupbyfleshandbloodinthespirit of kinship. These can only result from a firm belief in the purposes for which our company stands.
Ourfirstadvice,therefore,toanyman,nomatterhowcapablea craftsmanwho does not sincerely believe in the cause to which the rest of us are dedicated should be to drop out.
He'stellingpeoplewhodon'tbelievetoleave.That'showserioushetakes this; this goes along with what Simon Sinek is always saying. People don't buy [00:28:00] what you do, they buy why you do it.
Now at these yearly conferences, Casey, he's talking to his plant managers. Eachmetroregionthattheyservicehasaplantforpackagedistribution,andthe plant manager is like the overall authority for that particular plant.
IthinkofthemasliketheCEOoftheirmetroplant.ThenUPS,theyhavethis central management team that provides yearly budgets and helps with more complex issues. Kind of like a board of directors, if you will.
WhatwouldJimCaseywantinthosepeoplewhostate?Well,in1856,hegives kind of a famous talk that's called-A talk with Joe, at the core, Jim Casey he's giving his managers a playbook on how founders should think
I went through the talk and pulled out the best lines first to think about.There's about20orsoofthem,andforme,asIwasdoingthis,Iwasjustimaginingthat I was a [00:29:00] new manager with this fire inside to be great and which ones would help me the most.
I'llblastthrough'emhere.Firstup,you'reamanofinquiringmindandyousee much in your job and elsewhere in the company. That should be improved.
That's100%.SamWalton,hespentmoretimeinhiscompetitors'storesthan competitors, did themselves taking notes and implementing the best ideas.
Always.Nextstep.
Becauseofyourhabitofthinking ofbettermentsinyourownwork,yourinsight will become keenerandyou'll be quick toobservewhat canbe improved in any part of the business that you look at. Kent Taylor comes to mind when he built Texas Roadhouse, he used this habit of betterment.
He was always improving nonstop. That's episode 11. If you'd like to learn a littlebit moreabout himnext on the list,yourmasterywill [00:30:00]attractthe attentionofyourassociates.Andtheywillbringyousomeoftheirproblemsand ask for your advice.
This will broaden your outlook across the business. Next up, likewise, you will consultwithothersonyourproblemsfindingbettersolutions.Itis thenyouwill see the heart of the problem.
Wisdom shows itself in connecting with others, not in isolation. Let's keep going. Your daily work will never be a drudgery. Instead, you'll see it as a pleasure because you'll be working for a purpose. I picture Fred Rogers; he turnedhispurposeintojoy.Thatgoesbacktoputtingthewhyfirst,thenext founder.
Insight.Hereyou'llbeknownasamanwhoiswillingtoacceptresponsibilities and can be dependent upon to do so without supervision. As a young bookkeeper, JohnD.Rockefeller was exactly thisway, staying [00:31:00]late, going over the ledgers again and again looking for those missing pennies. No one asked him to do it; he just did it.
Next up and perhaps one of my favorites, you'll drive yourself owners act with permission. Clock punchers. They wait to be told. Casey wants owners. I really wonder if Jim Casey would like this podcast. Moving on, your associates will try to emulate you and they who are not themselves leaders will gladly follow you. This one can be easily overlooked, your actions, how you move, what you decide,andhowyoutreatothers.Thatissilentteaching.JohnMaxwellsays,the highest calling of a leader is to develop leaders.
This is something that Sol Price understood deeply. He believed that teaching was his most important job. In fact, he felt that training manuals were often a poorwaytolearn.Theleadershouldmodelthewayfor [00:32:00]thementee. This feeds into the next one.
You'll be patient inthe weakness and failingsof others. Next up, you will learn more and more from experience that no two men are exactly alike, so you will makethemostofthegoodpointsineachandforgetthebad.IthinkJimCollins said this best.
Therightpeopleareonthebus.Thewrongpeopleareoffthebus,andtheright people are in the right seats.
Clean, clear, and crisp. The next one, through your practice of being a good listener,you'llreceivesomeofyourmostvaluableeducationthatdescribesSam Walton so well. He spoke to his truck drivers, his cashiers, his associates, his competitors. He listened more than he talked.
Itremindsmeofthatsaying,Idon'tknowexactlywhereIheardthis,butwhenI heard it, it just stuck in my mind. We have two ears and one mouth, and we should use them in that [00:33:00] ratio.
Nextup,youwillnothumiliatepeople.Infact,weshoulddotheexactopposite. Herb Kelleher treats his gate agents and his baggage handlers. Like executives, always praise in public, give criticism in private.
Let's keep going. You are a trustworthy and sincere man. When this becomes known,yourwordwill carrytremendous weight. If wego backto sole price,he wasthefatherofthemodern-daylowmarginretailers.Hebuiltthisconceptand it was cloned by Walmart, target, Kmart, Sam's Club, Home Depot, and of course, Costco.
Sol'swordcarriedtremendousweight.Nextup,youwon'ttrytofoolpeople. Youdon'tneedto.Nextone,youdonotconsideryourselfsmarterthanother
people. In fact, you are not. The difference is that you [00:34:00] use your brains in an orderly, logical way. I.That's pure Leonard Lauderright there.On episode 22, we learned how he put his ego on the chopping block, and he always hired people that were smarter than him, that gave him, and it will give youanunfairadvantageinbusinesswhenyouhirethesmartestpeopleyoucan find. Let's keep going. You see clearly what you want to accomplish, think it through and never lose sight of the main objective, the man speaking these words. Jim Casey. He's a living example of these68years. That is along time, 68years.Hekepthisvisionofnationwideshipping.Heneverlostsightofthat. Vision sustained over decades is rare and it's decisive.
Nextonthelisthere,you'llseekoutthethingsa well-roundedexecutiveneedto know. And through objectively selected reading and courses of study outside of [00:35:00] business hours, you'll prepare yourself for the position you would like to see yourself in someday.
Just think about that for a second. Prepare yourself for the position you want. Several times in his talk. Jim says, to use visualization to see your work and howitwillimpactthecompany.EstéeLauder,shedidthesamething,always visualizing, making the big sales. It works, next on the list.
As to your job, you'll see clearly that the price of progress is service, and thatthemorevaluableyoumakeyourservicetoothers,themoreprofitableitwillbe to you.
Something Sam Walton said that always stuck with me.He said, there's only oneboss.Thecustomerelevatesyourservice.They'regonnacomebacktime and time again. Last one, the one that Jim never stops talking about.
You'll reverse the common tendency of people to put [00:36:00] dollars first in everymovetheymake,you'llseethatmoneycomesaftertheresults,notbefore them. If you're sitting in that room, once you hear this, you can't unhear it.
That'showIthinkaboutit.Actionisyournextstep.Ifyou'renotdoingthese things,Idamnwellbelievethatyou're gonnabedoingthem.AfterCasey,he winds down the talk saying the following.
These, of course, are only a few of the details. You will work out the details as you comeintothem in your own logical way. There will be nomagic shortcuts. Therearenevermagicshortcuts.Anywhereintherightwayisthehardwayand the hard way done long enough with service at the center turns out to be the fastest way there is as Jim said in 1948, determined men can make conditions.
They do not allow themselves to be the victims of them. When [00:37:00] you're 15 years old and you're sent out on the worst jobs possible, you're going down to the waterfront to get more drugs for your customers. You're rushing beeracrosstown,andyou'rehaulingfurnitureupthestairs.Onlyyoucanmake that condition into a positive situation.
Reframeit.ThisiswhatJimdid.Serviceisthesumofmanylittlethingsdone well.
I'vereallyenjoyedsharingthesetalkswithyoutoday,andIhopethatyoufind some value in the episodetoday that will helpyouinyourbusinessorperhaps even your personal life. I've also collected some other Jim Casey works and I hopetotalktoyou about themin future episodes and I'll just give you aquick sample.
The1984managementconference,officialattendeelisthasonesadandobvious omission. The name of James E. Casey, after our lifetime, that included [00:38:00]42 management conferences.Jim Casey died June 6th,1983.He was 95 years old. Jim made it a practice each year to address his associates on an issue which would offer practical guidance.
Jim wrote his own talks, sometimes taking days to prepare his drafts. Other timesJimwould carefully prepare notesbut tear themup at thelast minute and speak extemporaneously to the group. Jim Casey. He remains on the board of UPSuntilthedayhedies.77yearsofservice,atruelegendinbusinesshistory.
Thanksforteachingus,Jim.Untilnexttime,makeitabeautifuldayinthe neighborhood, my friend.